Hotelzify CEO: “We are seeing up to 10% of total traffic coming from ChatGPT for some of our hotels.”
AI isn’t replacing travel tools, it’s rewriting the order in which travelers use them. Our survey among a digitally native, travel-active audience shows ChatGPT is increasingly where planning begins, while validation still happens on social, with friends, and on OTAs. To understand what this looks like from the hotel side of the market, we spoke to Anirudh Ganesh, Co-Founder and CEO of Hotelzify: an all-in-one platform that helps hotels and vacation rentals drive more direct digital traffic.
Hotel distribution used to be a straight fight for the click- Google, metasearch, OTAs, and the hotel’s direct channel. Now there’s a new “pre-click” layer: ChatGPT. As conversational AI goes mainstream, more discovery happens inside the answer, not on a results page. WordStream reports ChatGPT referral traffic is up 44% year-over-year and it is the largest driver of AI referral traffic across industries, particularly for travel and finance sites.
Where Demand Forms Is Changing
When we asked Anirudh whether he’s noticed a change in how travelers discover and plan stays, particularly among Gen-Z and millennials, his answer was direct: for some hotels, Hotelzify is seeing up to 10% of total traffic coming from ChatGPT. And for him, the bigger story isn’t just the number, it’s what that number represents. If discovery starts inside AI, then the “shortlist moment” shifts upstream. Hotels risk losing control of consideration unless they deliberately show up in that new layer where preferences are being formed before the user ever reaches an OTA filter page. This is the emerging thesis: the competitive advantage won’t come from choosing AI or traditional tools, it will come from winning visibility and conversion inside the AI-led discovery layer that increasingly sits above them.
Speed is the new “service”, luxury is the exception
On the balance between automation and human touch, Anirudh’s view is shaped by what younger travelers reward: “GenZ and millennial focus more on quality of resolution and speed,” he says. In his experience, the human touch matters less for these segments, except when luxury enters the chat. “Luxury is where human touch is still deemed to be of super importance,” he adds, “given they have healthy margins as well.” The implication is a segmentation reset: “human touch” isn’t disappearing, but it’s increasingly a premium feature, while instant clarity becomes the default expectation for everyone else.
The biggest AI myth: it won’t magically reduce OTA dependence
Anirudh’s key reality check is that the industry shouldn’t assume AI will automatically reduce OTA dependence. If interfaces like ChatGPT become a primary “front door” to travel discovery, distribution power won’t disappear, it will shift toward whoever controls visibility within that interface. In his view, LLM platforms are likely to monetize attention much like search engines and OTAs have, through sponsorships and paid placement. That’s why hotels should move early: invest in visibility, and strengthen their direct presence within these emerging AI ecosystems rather than waiting for organic disintermediation to play out.
What hotels should actually do next
His prescription is equally practical: hotels shouldn’t treat AI as a gimmick, but as a distribution lever. He outlines a clear three-part playbook:
First, use AI agents and automation to protect direct-channel competitiveness by ensuring your best pricing and parity discipline holds against OTA rates;
Second, deploy AI concierges that reduce booking friction by making it instant for guests to ask questions, get clarity, and book via chat or call flows that prevent drop-offs;
Third, treat LLMs as an emerging distribution surface in their own right and move early to improve “visibility” inside these interfaces. Moreover, test placements as sponsorship models evolve, and build brand presence where discovery increasingly begins.
Bottom line
OTAs won’t disappear, but the shortlist is moving upstream; hotels must compete for AI visibility, not just the OTA rank.